It’s been more than 43,800 hours five years since Teen Mom OG viewers watched as Mackenzie and Ryan Edwards hopped into a car to drive to their last minute wedding– a moment that would go down as one of the most controversial (and downright terrifying) scenes in the history of the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise.
While fans of the show have continued to question Mackenzie’s decision to marry Ryan that infamous day– as well as her decision to allow Ryan to get behind the wheel in the first place– the mom of three insists it is something she and her husband “made peace with” long ago.
After a fan asked about the incident this week on Instagram, Mackenzie acknowledged she had “made a very bad decision” at the time. She added that she’s grateful no one was hurt as Ryan drove the two of them while (clearly) under the influence and nodding off on the road.
“I was young, confused, nervous and made a very bad decision,” she explained. “I’m so thankful no one was hurt. We made peace with it a long time ago together.”
Shortly after Ryan and Mackenzie said “I do”– at a park in the presence of Ryan’s parents and the MTV camera crew– Ryan entered rehab, where he spent less than a month seeking treatment for a long-term heroin addiction. He was still in the facility during the reunion that season, leaving Mackenzie to address the car ride scene solo.
This was also the reunion in which Mackenzie read a pre-written letter on-stage that essentially blamed Ryan’s ex-fiancé Maci Bookout for not giving her a heads up about Ryan’s drug problem.
Mackenzie claimed this week that her and Ryan’s last-minute wedding and the events that followed “happened so fast” that she “wasn’t sure how to process” everything.
“ … It was very hard going through that, much less publicly!” Mackenzie wrote. “I wasn’t even sure how to process what was happening much less my words to describe it. Rips my heart out looking back at everything! Feels like a lifetime ago! I feel like Ryan and I have a weight lifted completely off of our shoulders.”
In another comment, Mackenzie claimed she didn’t “feel like there was ever a time I was able to give a response without it being dramatic,” regarding questions surrounding Ryan’s substance abuse issues.
“I love that man so much, and he loves me back,” she added.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRgu2ABpu90/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
While Ryan and Mackenzie appear to be doing well since getting booted from ‘Teen Mom OG’ (at the request of Maci) in March 2021, as fans of the show may remember, the drama involving Ryan’s substance abuse issues did not end (or begin) during his post-wedding trip to rehab.
In March 2017, Ryan was issued a citation for “simple possession of heroin.” At the time, police found 14 needles and a bag of heroin in Ryan’s possession. He was arrested again in March 2018 and in August 2018 in relation to the original arrest. Ryan returned to rehab for a third time in the fall of 2018. (His first attempt at rehab was back in December 2012, according to his ex-girlfriend, Dalis Connell.)
Mackenzie and Ryan went on to have a larger wedding ceremony, which was featured on ‘Teen Mom OG,’ and they have also welcomed two children together.
Despite Maci and her husband, Taylor McKinney, questioning the status of Ryan’s sobriety prior to the Edwards family getting booted from the show, Ryan has insisted that he is clean and sober and even claimed to have celebrated his three-year sobriety anniversary in August 2021.
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(Photos: MTV; Instagram)
19 Responses
This post gives me life ??. I still find myself watching the reunion clip of her dumb**s and her bull**it letter trying to blame Maci and it makes my blood boil, especially with her Karen haircut and the snob look on her face when she put the letter down as if she just pwned Maci as opposed to, ironically, humiliating herself for years to come. The fact that his parents didn’t stick up for Maci and then til the very end, still trying to blame her for their lack of time and visits when, if their son was just a present father, not even father of the year, things would be a lot different. The nerve of her, who was literallly around him more than ANYONE claims to not have a damn clue after the clip of them driving to get married when he very easily could’ve killed both of them and people around them, makes HER THE ENABLER, not Maci and…. Maci she’s trying to blame it on(and I guess the rest of the world minus her and his parents right?). And Amber should’ve knocked her c**t a*s off the stage. That’s all.
Oh hon, I think we would have much more respect for you if you had just said “that was a mistake will never stop regretting. I should have forced Ryan to pull off and get out of the driver’s seat. I can’t believe our carelessness could have left our children with our parents or harmed another innocent person. This is the greatest regret of my life and I thank God daily the consequences weren’t as severe as they could have been.”
Personally, I have many regrets in my life, for things I’ve done, or didn’t do, things I said, didn’t say. Not that I’ve ever driven, or rode in a car with someone horrendously impaired. We all have regrets. Those without regrets are probably not being honest with themselves. In my opinion, a lack of regret shows a lack of empathy and self awareness.
If there wasn’t a financial motive to be with Ryan, McKenzie wouldn’t have been. Now that they are both off the show, she is staying for the kids. She can choose to try to spin events that were filmed all she wants. I don’t think her and Ryan were ever really in love. Accusing your spouse of stealing money during your wedding dance (a decent amount of time after the driving under the influence court legal wedding) doesn’t scream happiness or genuine love to me. Nor does continuously cheating on your spouse.
Ryan probably just had kids with McKenzie to make his parents happy. That way he can continue to shoot up and his parents and McKenzie can take care of the kids from his parent’s basement.
Wait, so is this her admitting that she knew that he was on drugs? Pretty sure I remember her claiming total ignorance and blaming Maci for withholding that information.
The lack of self respect and the pure desperation to marry someone in that state is pathetic at best and makes her look like a manipulative gold digger. She knew he was out of his mind and should have made him stop. There’s no excuse beyond “I was desperate and selfish”. One could argue that their marriage is fraudulent. But thank goodness they’ve made peace with putting countless people in danger.
She is a conniving snake who wanted fame & access to the $$$. She was securing the bag. She’s also had a dramatic weight loss. I wouldn’t bc surprised if she’s on uppers. That’s the only excuse I have for her to be this delusional.
Oh please. We all saw her turn the cameras off and she was pissed that he “took a Xanax.” She was so desperate to get married to this loser she didn’t care what state of mind he was in.
She is so absolutely delusional about everything, including her own role in the shitty life choices she and Ryan have made. She says that they made peace with it long ago and it’s a heavy weight off their shoulders, which just proves how ignorant, and immature she really is, still.
It is a weight that you should NEVER made peace with, or want off your shoulders. That is a disgraceful act of ignorance that you should always feel shame about, always feel horrible about, and always remember. It is not something you should pretend didn’t happen or was so long ago that it’s no longer significant. It is extremely significant and if Ryan really is clean (which I will never believe), even he should realize that it’s not something you make peace with. You don’t make peace with your bad decisions when you’re an addict, especially an addict in recovery. That’s not how recovery works, nor is it how life growth works. Addicts need those reminders of how low their lives were, because it helps them stay on the straight and narrow. Addicts that claim to have made peace with their former demons and bad decisions are not truly in recovery. Those that claim to love them, who also perpetuate this belief that they can make peace with things, are only serving to further enable.
She always seemed spiteful and jealous because of Maci and treated Ryan as if he were a prize. The whole nation knew he was on drugs but she gets on stage to make an ass of herself blaming Maci. She makes excuses for Ryan’s behavior and his parents are just as enabling so he continues to feel there’s no consequences for his actions. I believe she was so jealous of Maci that she wanted to perpetuate the problems between Ryan and Macy so that she could secure her spot in getting his money. She clearly made herself look like she wanted Maci out of the picture totally and was willing to put up with Bentley because she had to and she otherwise wanted to be #1. I don’t think she likes that Maci was with him first, or she had his first child and her speech and actions show that. She then goes on to have 3 more kids with this dope fiend, for what? So he can take off and use and she’s stuck with the kids for the sake of saying she’s got his kids and it shows he loves her more??? She’s still delusional, and she’s got much more heartache in her future. I feel sorry for the kids.
Calm down guys it’s ok they have “made peace with it” so it’s like not even a big deal anymore. *Heavy eye roll* this girl sounds like Jenelle. Just wait a little while, change your story a few times, say you “make peace” to disguise no actual personal growth and then Bam! you can pretend horrible things never happened.
I remember everyone claiming that she was a drug user as well and knew he was on heroin.
I think he told her pills, Xanax, but not that he was shooting up heroin.
Either way, she knew he was high at the time. Im so glad her conscience is clear. Amazing the things we sweep under the rug and pretend didnt happen…
I don’t even fully understand how their marriage could even be legal. First of all, he was under the influence and probably didn’t even know what the fuck was going on and #2, she pretty much forced him in that moment to marry her. Girl was beyond desperate. I honestly don’t know how these shit shows can continue with this bad behavior and nothing is done in the part of MTV or law enforcement. I am so glad I stopped watching this bullshit.
She always seemed spiteful and jealous because of Maci and treated Ryan as if he were a prize. The whole nation knew he was on drugs but she gets on stage to make an ass of herself blaming Maci. She makes excuses for Ryan’s behavior and his parents are just as enabling so he continues to feel there’s no consequences for his actions. I believe she was so jealous of Maci that she wanted to perpetuate the problems between Ryan and Macy so that she could secure her spot in getting his money. She clearly made herself look like she wanted Maci out of the picture totally and was willing to put up with Bentley because she had to and she otherwise wanted to be #1. I don’t think she likes that Maci was with him first, or she had his first child and her speech and actions show that. She then goes on to have 3 more kids with this dope fiend, for what? So he can take off and use and she’s stuck with the kids for the sake of saying she’s got his kids and it shows he loves her more??? She’s still delusional, and she’s got much more heartache in her future. I feel sorry for the kids.
Funny, I thought they said when they were horrifyingly getting married that time that it was to help Ryan’s case in getting some custody of Bentley ? Sure, McKenzie. We haven’t forgotten
I believe they rushed to get married too, at least she did. He was not interested one bit in helping her get things together and you could see her jealousy tearing it’s ugly head everytime Ryan and Maci got along for Bentley’s sake… She’d have something negative to say after the phone call. She looked like a desperate female rushing to marry him. They also were going through the custody battle, which was a joke because deep down both knew they couldn’t get custody. Mack is an enabler to the 100th degree and looks like a fool lashing out at Maci when really Bentley is Maci and Ryan’s kid. She’s a gold digging, thirsty and jealous female. Ugh glad they’re gone!
Still have no respect for her. She could have been the one driving and not placed everyone at risk on the road!
What happened to her “claiming” she didn’t know. Only Maci knew.
Maci who spent as much time with Rhine as Bentley did for 10 years, which was what 10 hours a year.
But the women who lived with him didn’t know. His parents knew, his ex-gfs knew but she didn’t.
She knew, she just wanted to “fix” him or thought well at least I’ll get on tv.
So true. And I think she actually did try getting on the show before knowing Ryan. Thirsty.